Introduction: Make a Planting Pot Maker!

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In stead of buying plastic planting pots you can make a tool so you can make your own planting pots out of news paper. When the plant is ready to put in your garden you just dig down the hole thing, including the pot. The pot will naturally dissolve by time...

You can make this in an even easier way using a whine bottle (or a beer can, or even a toilet paper roll ): . This instructable will provide a way to make pots in any size and with a punched bottom.

The pots are made by rolling news paper around a template and then punch the bottom to make it keep together. You can also "glue" the pot with a small amount of water. You can do this using a beer can or something else cylindrical with a hole in the bottom. But I decided to make a small tool similar to commercial available alternatives.

English is not my first language so please help me out if something is wrong or just silly - thanks!

Step 1: Materials

- You will need a template for the pots. This template should be cylindrical and will set the size of pots
- Then you need something to make a hole in the template to be able to punch in the bottom, I used a drill
- I don't know the word, but I had a stick for putting up curtains which I will be using as the punching part
- Then you need a base to mount the punching part onto
- And optionally a small screw

You will also need some basic wood-working tools:
- Some kind of a saw
- Some kind of a drill
- A knife
- Optionally also a screwdriver

An optional construction would be to use one of those plastic feet you put under furniture to avoid scratches in the floor. I think you should use the hard kind, not the kind with felt on top.

Step 2: Drilling

Now you will have to drill wholes in the template and in the base.

- The whole in the base will be used to fit the punch and might go almost through the base (in my case about 20 mm)
- The whole in the template will be used as matching part for the punch and only needs to be 5 mm (1/5 inch) deep

If you can drill a slightly wider in the template this is good since this will leave space for the pot when punching. If you drill two identical holes you will have to carve a little radius on the punch later to make it work.

Step 3: Mounting the Punch

My biggest drill was to narrow for the piece I had to use as a punch. So I had to carve it so that it fits into the hole in the base.
When I got it to fit I added some wood glue and drilled a small hole from the back and put a screw into it.

The screw is optional but will make it possible to use the tool before the glue dried properly (I was pretty eager to make my pots).

Step 4: Finish Up the Punch

Now you will have to use the saw to make the length of the punch to match the hole in the template. The punch and template should have loose fit, use the knife to widen the hole in the punch or carve the punch into shape (whichever you prefer).

Step 5: Make It Look Good

Well, you could be finished now if you want to. But i decided to try to make it look at least decent before I considered to be finished. So I took my knife and carved it to fit nice in my hand. See the result below.

Step 6: Make Some Planting Pots!

Now you can start making pots. There is another instructable showing the process using a whine bottle .

Here is a brief instruction on how to make the pots:
- Cut a strip of paper, in my case 50 cm x 10 cm  is good (this is about a feet x 4 inch)
- Roll the paper strip onto the template and leave about 30 mm (an inch) at the end with the punch
- Fold the paper outside the template to form the bottom of the pot
- Then punch the bottom to make it stay in place
- Remove the pot from the template
- Use a small amount of water to "glue" the pot into nice shape

Below are some pots I made...
Happy planting!